McLEAN PROMISES HE IS NOT PLANNING A SHARP EXIT FROM ABERDEEN
KENNY McLEAN has already told Derek McInnes he won’t be signing a new contract when his current deal with Aberdeen ends next summer.
But the influential midfielder insists he has absolutely no intention of leaving the Granite City club next month.
Not when he harbours hopes of helping the Dons maintain their position as Celtic’s closest rivals — and waving goodbye to fans with a Scottish Cup winner’s medal hanging round his neck.
The matter could yet be taken out of the Scotland international’s hands, of course.
McLean can quit for nothing in June and is free to talk to interested clubs from New Year’s Day onwards, with Rangers thought to be among his main suitors.
But McInnes has already admitted that Aberdeen might be tempted to recover the £250,000 they paid to St Mirren for the player in 2015 if the right offer is made in the January window.
McLean, 25, insists that neither scenario is a distraction, with his concentration solely on increasing the pressure on Brendan Rodgers’ men at the top of the table when the teams meet in Glasgow today.
‘To leave on the back of a cup final win would be excellent, but that’s a long way away,’ said McLean.
‘We need to look at what is in front of us and that’s what everyone will continue to do.
‘I think the performances from me and the team have shown that and it’s not affected us, the position that I’m in.
‘There are boys up and down the country who are in the same position as me but we’re professionals and we need to do our jobs.
‘I’ve spoken about my contract situation and what’s going to happen after that but, right now, my focus is totally on Aberdeen, 100 per cent.
‘If I keep doing as much as I can and playing as well as I can, then it’s only going to benefit me and the club. It’s a win-win.’
Three points today would certainly be the ideal Christmas present for the fans, particularly as it would take the Dons to within two of the league leaders.
But McLean knows how daunting a task that will be at a venue where Aberdeen haven’t picked up a single point in their last 24 league visits.
On a personal level, the midfielder has been on the losing side all 11 times he’s played there for both St Mirren and the Dons.
Given his team’s recent form, however, he is confident of making it 12th time lucky this afternoon.
Aberdeen have won all three of their league matches since McInnes rejected the chance to replace Pedro Caixinha as Rangers manager, including last weekend’s 4-1 hammering of Hibernian.
McLean recalls, though, how they were in equally convincing form on the back of a nine-game unbeaten league run when the teams last met at Pittodrie in October, only for Celtic to run out comfortable 3-0 winners.
‘We let ourselves down in the game at home,’ admitted McLean. ‘We didn’t lay a glove on Celtic. They came up here and they got their own way.
‘We didn’t put enough pressure on them. At times, they just did what they liked on the pitch.
‘That shouldn’t happen and it’s up to us to make sure it doesn’t happen again. We’re confident going into this game and we’ll make sure it doesn’t go all their way. We need to go there and show how good we are.
‘At times against Celtic, we know we haven’t been good enough. But I don’t think there’s a psychological barrier.
‘The boys are confident and we’ll go there with an expectation on ourselves to take something from the game.
‘It’s a tough place to go, but I don’t think you can go into a game negatively as we’re sitting second in the league and doing well.
‘I don’t think we can go into the game looking for anything other than three points. At a team like Aberdeen, that’s always the case, no matter where you go. We want to win as many games as we can and stay in the position we’re in.’
Aberdeen will be forced into at least one change as on-loan midfielder Ryan Christie can’t play against his parent club, but Kari Arnason is available again after missing last week’s win over Hibs.
Dons assistant manager Tony Docherty believes they can cope with Christie’s absence, but he’s not reading too much into Celtic’s shock defeat at Tynecastle last weekend which ended the champions’ 69-match unbeaten domestic run.
He said: ‘We don’t concern ourselves with what level Celtic are at. It’s dangerous to do that. We’re just concerned with a 90-minute game against them.
‘Their unbeaten run came to an end and Hearts deserve massive credit for stopping it, but they got a win right away against Partick Thistle, so they will be in a good place and looking forward to the game.
‘When the whistle goes, it’s a 90-minute game and we just have to make sure our players are equipped to do as much as they can to stop the opposition.’